Electromagnetic and optical trap systems play an important role in physics: such as Penning trap, Linear Ion (Paul) trap, and atomic trap. They are used to isolate matter which enables various high precision measurements to extract the intrinsic property of the matter and to perform various fundamental experiments in physics.
One such system that has been recently developed is a parallel dipole line (PDL) trap. A PDL trap enables trapping of a diamagnetic cylindrical object using dipole line or transversely magnetized magnets due to the existence of a camelback magnetic potential along the longitudinal axis of the trap. See, for example, Gunawan et al., “A parallel dipole line system,” Applied Physics Letters 106, pp. 062407-1-5 (February 2015) (hereinafter “Gunawan”) and U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,895,355, 9,093,377, and 9,236,293 all issued to Cao et al., and entitled “Magnetic Trap for Cylindrical Diamagnetic Materials” (hereinafter “U.S. Pat. No. 8,895,355”, “U.S. Pat. No. 9,093,377”, and “U.S. Pat. No. 9,236,293”, respectively).
Once contained in the trap, means are often needed to manipulate and detect the position of the object for various experiments and sensing applications. Accordingly, a simple technique to manipulate and detect the position of the trapped object in a PDL trap would be desirable.